Railway car roof structure



Gct. 3, 1946. J. 5. SWANN 2,409,079

' RAILWAY CAR ROOF STRUCTURE Filed April 2, 1945 2 Sheets$heet 1 Z I IIIMMIA W IIA JI/ INVENTOR. James 5 fiwarzzz,

Mu J. 5. SWANN 2,409,079

1 RAILWAY cm ROOF STRUCTURE 5 Filed April 2, 1945 2 Sheets-She et 2 IN VEN T 0R.-

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Patented Oct. 8, 1946 RAILWAY CAR ROOF STRUCTURE James S. Swann, Homewood, Ill., assignor to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application April 2, 1945, Serial No. 586,090

(01. IDS-5.4)

Claims. I

The invention relates to roofs for railway cars wherein a plurality of metallic roof sheets extend between the opposite side walls of the car and are formed to provide integral beams or reinforcements to transpose the load imposed thereon to the side walls of the car. Such sheets are frequently joined together along their meeting edges or margins to provide additional beams or reinforcements.

The invention is an improvement on a type of such roof now in general use, wherein the adjacent margins of adjacent sheets are offset upwardly and such offset margins are provided with upwardly projecting flanges and the flanges of adjacent sheets are secured together by a cap or welding material. The ofiset portions of adjacent sheets and flanges (and cap if used) cooperate to form a reinforcement or beam between the side walls of the car. Such roof sheets are generally also each formed with an upwardly projecting panel which is preferably midway between the ofiset portions and extends between opposite side walls of the car so as to provide another beam or reinforcement between the side walls.

Such roofs are necessarily pitched from opposite sides of a central ridge to provide water sheds. The ridge may be formed by bending the roof sheets on a line to form an apex, which apex may be eased by a radius, or the sheets may be arched from side wall to side wall on a large radius.

The object of the invention is to provide means so that a roof sheet having parts thereof in spaced substantially parallel planes connected by a web may be bent over a line or radius substantially normal to the web or transversely of the sheet without seriously concentrating the internal strains set up by such bending at one place or a small region. In other words, the object is to disperse or distribute the strains over a large area of the sheets. Such internal strains may crack the plate or crack the galvanization, or other coating, while the sheet is being bent, or such strains may cooperate with stresses imposed on the sheet after it is in service to crack the sheet.

My invention is especially adapted to thin metallic coated sheets, as thin sheets tend to buckle or tear when formed between reciprocal dies, and furthermore, such action tends to crack a. coating, such as galvanization, therefore, another object is to provide a roof sheet which can be manufactured of very thin metallic sheet without localizing the strains.

The roof of a railway car must preserve the rectangularity of the car superstructure by resisting the tendency of the side walls to spread or come toward each other when the car is in service. These stresses are quite severe under coupling shocks. Such tendency puts beam stresses upon the aforementioned beams or reinforcements.

In the drawings:

' Fig. 1 shows a cross section of a railway car having a typical roof to which the invention is adaptable. It also shows my embossment in the roof sheet.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing a joint between the sheets.

Fig. 3 is a cross section of another roof to which my invention is adaptable, wherein the flanges of adjacent sheets are secured together by a cap. The roof sheet is also formed with a panel in the middle of the sheet.

Fig. 4 shows a part of a roof sheet adjacent the apex and adjacent the offset margin with the embossment formed in the sheet.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4 with the embossment omitted.

Fig. 6 shows a part of a roof sheet adjacent the apex, which sheet is formed with a panel and my embossment.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 each roof sheet 2 comprises a main portion 3 and an ofiset marginal portion 4 in a plane substantially parallel to the main portion, and an inclined web 5 connecting the main portion 3 and the ofiset portion 4. The offset portions 4 are joined to the adjacent roof sheet in any convenient manner, such as upstanding flanges 6 welded together (7) as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig, 5 shows a roof sheet having a raised margin 4 bent to form a ridge 9 (but not having my embossment) to show that when such a roof sheet is bent on a line (9) or radius the metal is compressed and disrupted in the neighborhood of the points II and 52 because in that region the sheet is simultaneously bent on two lines at right angles to each other. Actual practice shows that in service roof sheets sometimes do crack in this region.

My invention comprises forming an embossment (as shown as 20 in Fig. 4) which springs from the main portion 3 of the sheet on opposite sides of the ridge 9 and merges into the web 5 on opposite sides of the ridge 9, thus materially reducing the angularity (2|, Fig. 2) between the main portion 3 of the sheet and the web 5 and and consequently eliminating the sharp bends shown as H and 12 in Fig. 5. Preferably the embossment 3 20 also merges into the offset portion, as shown in Fig. 4.

The ridge 25 of the embossment 20 is connected to the main part 3 and the web of the portions 26, as shown in Fig. 4, which portions 26 are made wide enough and long enough to distribute the strains as heretofore mentioned.

On the line |4-l5 of Fig. 4 and line I-B-I'l of Fig. 5 the Web 5 has an inclination of about 60 degrees (2| Fig. 2) from the main portion 3 bf the roof sheet, In my improved roof sheet having the embossment 20 formed therein the inclination at the ridge 9 is decreased so that the angularity (22) between the main part 3 and the ridge 25 of the embossment is materially decreased, thus distributing the strains, due to bending the roof sheet to form a ridge, and preventing the concentration of the strains at points ll and/or 12. In other words, localization is prevented.

Figs. 3 and 6 show a roof sheet having a panel 3! formed therein incorporating my improvement. This panel extends between the side walls of the car and constitutes a beam between said walls. In this modification the sheet comprises main portions 3!], panels 3| connected by webs 32, all of which are bent across a line forming the ridge 33. The embossment 34 has a ridge 35 connected to the main part 30 and the web 32 by the portion 36, all similar to the embossment 2U heretofore described.

While I have shown in the drawings the sheet formed in a plurality of fiat planes connected by sharp angles for simplicity, it is understood that the various parts may be formed on curves connected by radii and still come within the scope of the invention.

Also while I have described the invention as applicable to a roof sheet it is obvious that the same could be employed in any sheet wherein similar conditions exist and wherever used.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

4 l. A car roof sheet of thin metallic material having a main portion, an offset portion in a plane substantially parallel to said main portion, and a, web connecting said portions, said portions and said web being bent to form a ridge extending transversely of said sheet, said sheet formed with an embossment springing from the ridge of said main portion and merging with the adjacent edge of the ridge of the oifset portion and merging into said main portion and web on opposite sides of said ridge.

2. A car roof sheet of thin metallic material having a main portion, an offset portion in a plane substantially parallel to said main portion, and a web connecting said portions, said portions and said web being bent to form a ridge extending transversely of said sheet, said sheet formed with an embossment extending from an edge of the ridge of the offset portion across said web and merging into said main portion and said web on opposite sides of said ridge.

3. A car roof sheet of thin metallic material having a. main portion, an offset portion in a plane substantially parallel to said main portion, and a web connecting said portions, said portions and said web being bent to form a ridge extending transversely of said sheet, said sheet formed with an embossment which springs from said main portion on opposite sides of said ridge and merges into said web adjacent opposite sides of the ridges thereof.

4. A roof sheet as defined in claim 3 wherein said embossment extends to and merges into the adjacent edge of the ridge of said oifset portion.

5. A metallic roof sheet having ends adapted to :be supported by the side walls of a railway car; said roof sheet having a panel formed therein extending substantially between the ends of the sheet to provide a beam between the side walls of the car, said panel comprising an offset portion connected by webs to the sheet, said sheet and said panel being bent to form a ridge extending transversely of said sheet, said sheet being formed with an embossment on each side of said panel, each embossment springing from the ridge of said sheet and merging with the adjacent edge of the panel and also merging into said sheet and web on opposite sides of said ridge.

JAMES S. SWANN. 

